A normal life
by Midlife Fantasist
Summary: Aoife was a happy, normal girl, and she was celebrating her birthday today. She had decided to invite her colleagues for lunch, but unexpectedly she encountered an uninvited guest... who could it be?
1. A Normal Life

It was midday in a non-descript office block. Conversations could be heard from all corners of a busy office.

The workers were mostly talking to their counterparts appearing on their headsets, whilst taking notes using telepathy. This was how the world worked in 2066.

People still went to work in offices however – human interaction could be minimized, but could not be replaced. Not yet anyway.

At one of the desks a young woman with long dark hair has just put down her headset. She closed her dark green eyes for a moment to give them a rest. Light from the windows bounced off her shimmering pale skin, contrasting against her long dark eyelashes.

It's been six months since she started working here. It was mundane work, but she enjoyed it. It was nice to have a normal job, a normal life, she thought.

Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulders.

She turned around to look. "Hey Aoife, ready to go celebrate? You're not forgetting your birthday are you?" said a man cheerfully. He looked around the same age as Aoife.

Aoife smiled, "Hey Mike, I didn't know it's that time already! Let me get my things, will be ready in a minute!"

"Great, I'll go and get the others!" Mike said over his shoulder while walking away.

Aoife had a quick look at the mirror to check her makeup, although she wasn't sure why she should bother. These days makeup last for an eternity unless you wanted to take it off. She didn't even really need a purse. Cell phones had been made redundant a long time ago. Cash was now obliterated. Doors were unlocked with biometric scans. Aoife only kept a purse on her out of habit.

Aoife and her work team headed to a nearby restaurant to celebrate her birthday.

It was a shopping mall affair, with above average food and super friendly staff. Aoife had already booked a table for the party, so she approached the front desk to confirm the reservation.

"One of your guests is already waiting at the table." Said the woman behind the front desk.

Aoife raised an eyebrow.

Mike was standing next to her, and saw the look on her face. "Are you expecting someone?"

"I wasn't…" Aoife mumbled. Not wanting to look too perturbed, she put a smile on her face and followed the staff to the table and the mysterious waiting guest.

As the party approached the table, they could see a man standing next to it.

He looked elegantly overdressed for the venue, with an old-fashioned (for the 2060s) suit in grey and polished black shoes, but somehow the look worked for his slim build. He looked to be in his mid 30s with short, blond hair. He had slightly eerie eyes, but it was hard to pinpoint why at a quick glance. He was inhumanly pale, but handsome in an otherworldly way.

Aoife approached the man, and said in a low voice, "Father!"

The man smiled and gave Aoife a kiss on her cheek, "Happy Birthday, my precious."

"Why are you here? You didn't tell me you'd come!"

"You didn't ask. Anyway, I wouldn't miss your birthday celebration for the world. And I'll pay the bill."

Aoife tried not to roll her eyes.

"Please promise me it's real money you use this time."

"Aoife dearest, is this how you see your father?"

Aoife glared at him.

The man leant into Aoife and half whispered to Aoife, "I think now is the time for you to make an introduction, don't you think?"

"Erm… right", she called out to the rest of the party, "this is my… dad, Jareth."

Aoife never ever talked about her family. She was always friendly and fun to be with at work, but she never ever divulged any personal details. To have her father turning up unannounced was surprising to say the least. The man only looked about 10 years older than Aoife, but no one paid any attention to it, except that it might have confused some of them into thinking that he was actually Aoife's new rich boyfriend. By now advances in medicine and technology meant that people kept their looks younger for longer, either by improved living standards, advanced surgery or gene manipulation.

An extra seat was quickly arranged. Whilst getting into the chair, Jareth noticed the music playing in the background.

"I didn't know that they still do this in a restaurant."

"Some restaurants like to go for the retro feel, Father."

"What on earth is this music anyway?" Jareth pulled a face like he caught a whiff of the Bog of Eternal Stench.

"It's top of the charts at the moment, the teenagers love him."

Jareth winced, "can't say I'm particularly… accustomed to the taste of adolescence from this decade."

"You don't have to listen to it you know."

"Very well." Jareth turned away from Aoife to greet the rest of the party.

And as if by magic Jareth switched his charm on to full. He expertly manipulated all around him like a handful of crystals, some office workers in a non-descript town in the middle of America didn't stand a chance. Aoife, having spent all her life seeing her father taking centre stage, had decided not to notice.

When Jareth has gone away for the bathroom briefly, Debbie, another colleague who was sitting next to Aoife, asked her: "your dad sounds different, where's he from?"

"England." Aoife said without thinking.

"I love his accent, so sophisticated."

Aoife didn't know how to answer that.

"You didn't tell me that you were half English?"

"I lived most of my life in America, I can hardly call myself anything other than American." Aoife lied, a sudden pang of guilt hitting her at the same time.

"Is that why your parents picked Aoife as your name?"

"Well… it's Irish, but close enough I guess." Aoife was faltering now.

In spite of the uninvited guest and occasional awkward conversations, the birthday lunch went well. Aoife and Jareth hadn't see each other for a while, but decided to have their catch up after the meal. With Jareth on form as usual, all the guests came out of the restaurant feeling thoroughly entertained, if not completely seduced.

After the lunch, everyone walked back to their cars to head back to the office. Aoife was walking along with Jareth when he asked, "so… I assume we'll be on our way to the usual place?"

"I need to hand over a few tasks to my team, can you wait for me outside the office?"

"Of course, precious."

Aoife got back to her office and noticed a Jareth fan club forming on the office floor.

"Oh my god Aoife, you didn't tell me your father was so hot?" said one girl, hyperventilating.

"This is why I didn't invite him to lunch." Aoife thought to herself.

"Your mom is one lucky woman." Said another.

"She was." Aoife answered calmly.

The fan club went silent for a moment.

"I'm so sorry Aoife, I didn't realize…" said the girl blushing furiously, either from embarrassment or was still recovering from Jareth's hotness.

Aoife laughed it off, "Don't worry! She's passed away quite a long time ago."

Aoife quickly handed off some of her work and left the office quickly, before she had to answer any more awkward questions. She went downstairs and saw Jareth standing outside, looking at the the distance, deep in thought. He heard Aoife's footsteps and turned around to look at her, smiling.

"Sorry to make you wait, I'm ready."

Jareth nodded. "Car?" He asked with a smirk.

"Come off it." Aoife finally rolled her eyes at him.

Jareth let out a small laugh, wrapped his arm around Aoife's shoulders and they both disappeared amid a shower of glitter.


	2. Warrior Princess

They arrived at a cemetery in New York City.

Aoife and Jareth slowly walked up to a grave, with the following inscription:

"Sarah Williams

1970-2055

Forever in my heart"

Due to decreasing space and new technology, there were myriads of ways people could choose to honour their dead loved ones. For Aoife's mother, it was her wishes that she would be buried in the traditional way, in her hometown.

Aoife laid down the flowers she just bought onto the grave.

Both Aoife and Jareth stood in contemplation.

Aoife stared at the grave, remembering her mother's last days – her increasing frail body, her aged looks, though still beautiful as ever. She was spending more and more time back in aboveground, despite her father's protests. Aoife knew why her mother did that – she didn't want to die in the land of the immortals.

Aoife glanced towards Jareth, and saw multiple emotions on his face – pain, sadness, anger and longing. And love. It was the same face she saw every year, on her birthday, when they visited the grave of her mother, for it was also the day she died. She had never missed it, saved for one year.

"It was probably another few years before they could preserve her brainwave." Jareth said, smiling at the irony that technology has managed to achieve what magic couldn't.

"I don't think Mother would have appreciated it." Aoife replied.

"Probably not." Jareth said, turning to look at Aoife.

"The only time we didn't visit your mother's grave was five years ago, wasn't it?"

Aoife's body tensed slightly and nodded. "You know where I was, you visited me."

"Aoife, why don't you tell me about your Middle East tour." It was not a question.

Aoife pursed her lips. "You know what happened already."

"I don't think I have the full story."

"What do you need to know?" Aoife snapped, and quickly looked at Jareth, wondering if she should regret her reaction.

Jareth showed no emotion. "You joined the army against my wishes. You knew how dangerous that could have been, never mind the fact that meddling the affairs in this world with our powers were strictly prohibited."

"But I didn't use my powers! I fought like every other man and woman in the battlefield!"

"Your lineage gave you an unfair advantage, as you well know." Jareth continued, looking straight in her eyes. "Don't tell me you didn't survive exceedingly well from the heavy use of, do they still call them that now? Weapons of mass destruction?"

Aoife bit her lower lip. "Why did it matter anyway?" She protested. "I didn't make any difference, nothing has changed! The world was still as messed up as it had been! I thought I could help make this world a better place… but I couldn't." She looked at her mother's grave.

This world – her mother's world.

"Is that the reason? That you think you could save your mother's world?"

"I wanted to do what my mother couldn't – to have a life in this world. To be part of it. To help shape it. To make it a better place." Aoife looked back to her father. She knew this was going to hurt.

Jareth understood very well what she was implying underneath that statement. Jareth's eyes flared in anger, but his voice remained calm. "You are my sole heir to the Goblin Kingdom, do you know that your actions had put it at great risks? I might have a long life, but I'm not indestructible." His eyes looked softer as he said, "And neither are you."

Aoife's mind flashed back to her birthday five years ago.

Aoife's was in the middle of a major assault in Syria. She hasn't forgotten the day, but out of her sense of duty and loyalty to her team, she stayed in battle.

She was leading a small team to infiltrate the small town that was supposed to be one of the hideouts of the local insurgent group. The town was empty when they arrive, except the dead bodies. After securing the town, they went through the houses one by one to look for any survivors or weapons. It was a heavy battle, and casualties on her side were not insignificant. She was however relatively confident that she had decided to search on her own.

Aoife went into one of a small empty room in a house when she suddenly felt the air moved quickly at her back. She turned swiftly and pointed her gun in front of her, when she saw an owl flew through the window into the room, and before she could react, a man materialized in front of her, with long blond hair, black flowing cape and armor on his chest. It was her father Jareth, and he looked furious.

"Father! Don't surprise me like this, I almost shot you!"

"Aoife, come with me, now."

Aoife felt the magic surrounding her and realized that Jareth had stopped the time. She shouted, "That's not fair!"

Jareth said haughtily, "We need to talk."

"This is not entirely appropriate when I'm in a battlefield, Father!"

"If fighting wars is your thing, there is an entire Goblin army at your disposal back home."

"No! That's not what I want! I am human here!"

"You're not, and never will be, a human. Now, stop this nonsense and come back."

Aoife took a deep breath. "I have a responsibility here. I will not leave my soldiers. I will finish what I started."

Jareth's eyes flared up but remained silent for a brief moment. His mouth then lifted slightly when he spoke, "You're just as stubborn as your mother."

Aoife pleaded, "Father, please, let me do this. I can't turn my back on my people."

Jareth looked at her. Bright green eyes, not at all dimmed by the dirt on her face, were staring back at him. Her dark long hair was tied back and dampened by sweat, with a battle-worn helmet sitting on top of it. Even with the battle gear she was sporting, that expression reminded him of one person.

Sarah.

He let out a sigh, before changing into his owl form and flew out. The magic dissipated with him.

Aoife could hear his last words reverberating in her head.

"Turn back before it's too late."

Aoife's mind was called back to the present when she heard Jareth said, "Well?"

Aoife steeled herself to face her father again. "I'm sorry I went into battle against your wishes, Father. I guess I was still trying to get over losing Mother at the time."

Jareth looked more contented at this answer. "Despite my best efforts, Sarah remained a mortal and died of old age. It might have been natural for humans, it was still a pretty hard thing for us – both – to accept." He walked closer towards Aoife and touched her cheek. "I hope you are now at peace with it."

Aoife's eyes welled up slightly but tried her best to hold onto her emotions. "How about you, Father? Have you made your peace?"

Jareth smiled, "I promised your mother forever, precious."

"She said before she died that you should look for someone else."

"I won't."

Aoife can't help but raise a smile, "don't you have a few… erm, girlfriends?"

"I might have a few – girlfriends – as you call them, but they are not my consort. And I have no intention of finding another queen."

Aoife knew that she pursued this subject as far as it could go before it became seriously awkward, and responded with just a smile.

"I hope Sarah was happy at the end."

"She was, as much as someone close to dying could be. She missed you though."

"I know. And was stubborn enough to stay aboveground even though she missed me."

Aoife knew very well why Sarah did it. Neither Sarah, nor herself, could bear to see Jareth's face, the look of utter desperation, when he realised that she was dying, and there was nothing he could do to change it. All Aoife could do, was to stay strong for both her parents, and to stay aboveground to keep Sarah company.

She ended up staying until now.

"So..." Jareth broke the brief silence. "Are you still staying aboveground? To have your normal life?"

Aoife had been anticipating this conversation to happen every year on this day. She took a look at Jareth. He looked just as youthful and handsome as he ever was, ever since she was a child. Because of their immortality, she thought everything would last forever.

But she also saw the loneliness in Jareth's eyes, and knew how much he missed her all these years. Even though it wasn't very long at all, compared to his seemingly endless life.

"I've made my mind up."

"And the conclusion is?"

"Let's go back, Father."

"Are you happy to walk away from your normal life here, Aoife?" Jareth looked calm, but could hardly hide the delight in his voice.

"I'm sure it won't be a huge loss for them to not have me in the office, if anyone noticed at all. They might miss my hot dad more though." Aoife couldn't help but giggle at the last part.

Jareth's eyes sparkled. "I'm sure they won't remember for very long."

"You're not…"

"Relax, Aoife. I'm sure I can live with a dozen people remembering my face for a few decades."

"It's not long at all." Aoife grinned.

"Shall we then, princess?"

Aoife nodded to Jareth, and walked up to Sarah's grave.

"I love you Mother, see you next year." She pressed her lips on the corner of the gravestone, and walked back to Jareth.

Jareth remained motionless. Aoife was sure he was feeling a million things, but she left him to his own feelings.

Jareth gently held onto Aoife's waist, and before long all that was left in front of Sarah's grave was the bouquet and the glitter blowing in the wind.


End file.
